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Making the cut

Three new videos have been uploaded to flickers.my YouTube Channel on Zainudin Andika's kompang-making! Here's the first episode:



I'll be uploading a full single episode (total length = 10 minutes) in a minute (no pun intended). One of the reasons why the video has been cut into three pieces is to avoid putting people off when streaming them on Facebook or YouTube. Unless someone comes up with better reasons, I think having two versions of the videos (full length and segmented) is the way to go for the time being.

Compressing a two-days worth of shooting materials into a 3-minute video that try to explain a lot of things is a tough feat. Trying to keep the audience from getting bored and at the same time making sure that you do not miss anything important is pretty difficult (it's a long emotional journey from the First Assembly, Scene Select, Rough Cut, Fine Cut, Colour Correct, Sound Sweetening - all the way to the Final Cut!).

You need to learn how to be economical with shots and interviews. Judgements need to be made, and most of the time us editors make our own executive decisions. To just simply edit is easy, but the videos need to be engaging, entertaining and educational. Short is good. But if it's too short and failed to send the message then it is also not good. Editing is not difficult, making the cut is. Which shot to keep, which scene is not important - they all require a lot of thinking, arguments to be dealt with. Anyway, I guess I'll be sharing some of the editors' dilemma in future posts.

But for the time being, enjoy the videos!

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